Athletics: Campbell making up for lost time

Why Britain's 200m speed merchant values home gold higher than foreign booty

When Darren Campbell settles into his starting blocks in the City of Manchester Stadium this morning, the thought might just cross his mind that if his life had taken a different course he could have been tearing down the flanks in the place as a flying right-winger.

The showpiece stage for the XVIIth Commonwealth Games is to be converted into a new home for Manchester City for the season after next. Campbell's football allegiance as a native Mancunian lies firmly on the red side of the city, but he might have been playing on the Sky Blues' future patch – or indeed on any professional ground in England – had it not been for a fateful twist that eventually put him back on track in his sporting life.

After completing a sprint double at the world junior championships in 1992, the Sale Harrier found it so hard to make an impression as a senior sprinter he tried to break into professional football. "A Liverpool scout came to watch me play and said he might be able to get me some trials," Campbell reflected. "I had one trial at Millwall and then went to Plymouth. I played seven reserve games there and scored nine goals, but they didn't have a manager at the time. Russell Osman was only caretaker. I thought I wasn't going to get a contract, so I signed to play part-time for Weymouth. Then Neil Warnock got the job at Plymouth and made me an offer. I tried to sort it out with Weymouth, but it was too late by then."

It was indeed. Campbell's chance of a career in pro football had gone. A couple of seasons slogging around the non-League circuit with Weymouth, Cwmbran and Newport – plus some words of encouragement from Linford Christie – persuaded the No 7 that his best chance of becoming a No 1 in sport would be as an athlete.

Three years later, in 1998, Campbell was the No 1 in the 100m at the European Championships in Budapest, taking a title that Christie, his coach and mentor, had held for eight years. Two years later he won the silver medal behind Kostas Kederis of Greece in the Olympic 200m final in Sydney. Now, two years and a succession of injuries further on, Campbell has his sights set on a home-town Commonwealth gold in the 200m, the first-round heats of which take place this morning.

"I can't explain how much the Commonwealth Games means to me," he said. "If I had a choice of winning here or at the European Championships in Munich it would definitely be the Commonwealths. A lot of people will say I'm crazy, I'm stupid. The Europeans would give me a lot more financial reward than winning the Commonwealth Games. But it's about something deeper, deeper inside. The people in Manchester, when they come to the stadium and watch me compete... I'm going to give every single thing I can. If that doesn't mean I win the gold, believe me, everybody will say, 'Well, he tried and gave his best'. But I'm only here on one mission."

That mission looked to be nigh-on impossible two weeks ago when Frankie Fredericks, the vintage Namibian speed merchant who himself is returning after an injury-enforced hiatus, clocked 19.99sec for the furlong distance at the Golden Gala meeting in Rome. The following day, though, Campbell showed the first sign of his Olympic-year form, running 10.11sec behind Dwain Chambers in the 100m at the AAA Championships. The Moss Side boy, a resident of Cardiff these days, is back in town in confident mood.

"All year I've been saying I'm in the best shape of my life and things are going the right way now," he said. "I've worked harder than I've ever worked in my life. I had a great winter. I lost a lot of weight. I got myself in great shape. All I've been trying to do is sharpen up. I'd like to go sub-20 in Manchester."

Only one British 200m runner has ever gone under 20 seconds in any race anywhere in the world. That is John Regis, who set his British record, 19.94 sec, with a silver-medal-winning run at the World Championships in Stuttgart in 1993 – behind the man Campbell will have to beat if he is to strike gold in the Manchester final tomorrow night.

"I think it just shows the make-up of the man that Frankie has been out injured for such a long time and he's come back at his age," Campbell said. "He's an example to us all." He also happens to be a Manchester United fan, and a former footballer. The 34-year-old Fredericks played centre-forward for Namibia before switching to a sporting life in the fast lane that has led him into Manchester City territory with a fellow Red Devil.